Adjunct Professor and Visiting Lecturer, Center for Integrated Design
Michael Henderson holds the position of visiting lecturer at The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Design and Creative Technologies. He has developed two courses, Relationship Design and Design for Artificial Intelligence, as part of his academic contributions. Beyond academia, Michael is the founder and managing director of Actionable Conversations, a global firm specializing in leadership, consensus-building, and organizational development. His firm has collaborated with notable entities such as The University of Texas at Austin, the U.S. Department of State, Department of Commerce, Ford Motor Company, Nomi Health, and the Austin City Government.
He was named 2025 National Urban Fellow and given a full merit based scholarship to study Public Policy & Management at Georgetown University Currently Michael services as Special Advisor to the Director of the Houston Health Department.
Driven by his fervor for innovation, fostering public-private partnerships, international business, and building consensus, Michael has been actively involved in various leadership roles. He has served on the Board of Leadership Austin and currently holds a board position at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, Future Forum. Michael has curated programs focusing on artificial intelligence, international relations, and good governance. Most recently, he received a fellowship with Advantage Capital focusing on private equity, impact investing, and community development finance He generously volunteers his time to facilitate strategy and design workshops with General Assembly and engages in outreach efforts to support the unhoused population in Austin.
Michael’s professional work also revolves around engaging millennials in entrepreneurship by leveraging technology, business strategy, design, and trust. This focus has earned him fellowships from the federal government, enabling him to contribute to community building in various countries including Kenya, Singapore, Oman, Chad, Germany, Russia, Colombia, and Pakistan. Additionally, he has been awarded the State Department reciprocal exchange and grant four times. His ability to transcend geographical, racial, and socioeconomic barriers, allows him to adeptly tackle intricate problems.
Michael holds a terminal degree from Georgetown University and Bachelor of Arts from Howard University, as well as language certificates in Mandarin Chinese and Arabic from Middlebury College and Amideast respectively. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, bike riding, gardening, and exploring hiking trails with his friends.